JACAL Y FUERTE

WATTLE AND DAUB IN THE NEW WORLD, NEW MEXICO STYLE

When the Spanish arrived in the Northern New Mexico uplands, they built structures in a unique style. They used mid-sized poles to create an armature which was covered with multiple layers of thick plaster inside and out to produce earthen structures.

The method most often recognized by architectural historians was Jacal. In this form, poles of about 15 to 30 centimeters diameter were placed in the ground in a trench or pounded into place. These poles were often cedar/juniper. The poles were sharpened at the top and held in alignment by a horizontal top piece that had a vee-groove cut in its bottom.

The other method, Fuerte, somewhat more rare, used poles of 20 to 50 centimeters diameter laid horizontally with adzed notches at the corners much like log cabin construction in Eastern United States. The Spanish signature however was to plaster completely inside and out with mud plaster including the corners intersections. The Fuerte looked just like an adobe structure made of sun-cured earthen bricks.

A permutation of the fuerte style appeared in the 1900’s especially around sawmill towns and in some cases in railroad towns where rails were removed and ties were salvaged. In this form, squared timbers were used to form the building instead of logs or poles.

Examples:

Borracho Canyon Cabin

Ancones Valley Barn

Jacal and Fuerte at Jeffery’s

Fuertes in Taos

Jacales in Taos

Clark home in Medanales

Jacal in El Rito by Hennerty

Structures in Pilar